Incomplete
by Stonecreek
Summary: Set during episode 17, though it takes a few liberties. Being back home is not the vacation Ed was hoping it'd be. No, his mind's too unsettled for that.


A.N. – Hello there. This is my first foray into Fullmetal Alchemist. I hope I do not disappoint those of you out there. This idea has been in my head for months, crying to get out. This is an Ed-centric piece, though Winry does figure in. It's set in episode 17, House of the Waiting Family, but isn't totally faithful to it; otherwise, this would just be a retelling of the episode. I don't own FMA; if I did, I'd be making some changes. But that's for another time. You came here to read a fic, not an author's note. So, on with the main event. Thoughts are in _italics_.

**Incomplete**

"I miss her." Den just stared at Ed quietly. "There's not a day that goes by where I don't think of her, her voice, her love, my careless unthinking act." Ed's voice softly broke, and Den whined low in his throat. "What I made, that was not our mother. What I made was a mistake."

Ed sighed and stood up from his kneeling position before the headstone. "I juts feel so…incomplete without her here. Maybe you can sympathize, old buddy. You're not quite whole either." Den cocked his head as they began walking back towards the Rockbell's shop.

"But it's not the limbs that make me feel like I'm lacking. It's not the whole reason, not by far." Ed scowled and kicked a stone in his path. "Any time someone dies, everyone they're connected to suffers. The closer you are, the deeper the hurt. It's been years, and I still ache." Den trotted alongside Ed, inclining his head up, an attentive ear amidst the rapidly dimming fields.

"But Mom not being here, it's not the whole problem. Neither are my limbs. There's Al to consider. If I have it rough, he's in hell. If I think I'm missing something, what does Al feel like every day, with no senses, no real body? The metal I've been burdened with, it's nothing compared to what I've done to my little brother." Ed stopped walking as the duo crested the last hill before the automail shop. He stared at it in the fading sunlight, lost in thought.

"So why is there still room in me waiting to be filled despite all I carry?"

Ed flexed his new automail experimentally. Better response, more fluid, less noise, less effort. Ed smiled and pumped his fist.

"Ready to get your non-existent ass handed to you, Al?" Ed turned around at the clanking that announced his brother's presence.

"Brother," Al wearily said. "Must you use words like that?"

"What, ass?"

"Non-existent."

"Sorry, Al." Ed furrowed his brow. "I'm still not going to go easy on you."

"You haven't beaten me yet; if you went easy on me, this would be over in a _minute_."

"Who are you calling minute!" With that, the brothers brawled, Alex-Louis Armstrong watching in bemusement. Winry poked her head out of the upstairs window, shaking her head at the antics of the younger boys. What exactly she was concealing with her demeanor, even she didn't quite know. She just watched as the sun danced off the most pure expression of love she'd ever seen.

Ed groaned as he stood under the cascade of not-quite glacially cold water that passed for a shower. The old bucket was rusting where it hung, sending flecks of minerals into Ed's hair. He gave his gold locks a shake as he stood in the deluge.

"_The bucket rusts, and I don't, yet it is probably more content than I ever will be. It is full of water when in use, does not mind draining."_ Ed stared at the dirt beneath his mismatched feet. _"I am always drained, rest or no. Why? Is it the alchemy?" _ Ed put his hands on the side of the house. He was glad for this a second later as he was seized around the middle from behind.

"I won't have you drowning yourself, Edward Elric, not unless you take me with you."

"What?" Ed craned his head as far around as possible. The water her felt on his back had heated up in places. Trails of tears made their way down Winry's face as she clung to the smaller boy, soaking her as surely as Ed.

"Take me with you, Ed. I can't stand these sporadic visits, the lack of communication, the emptiness of you being gone. I feel so incomplete without you here."

"Winry…" Ed breathed out as her grip tightened. He cast a concerned glance her way (as much as his position would allow), and tried to let Winry relax into him. "I can't put you in danger. I couldn't stand you, the strongest person I know, possibly being scared, or hurt, or anything. I couldn't…" Ed trailed off as Winry tensed against him.

Masking the slight surprise of hearing Ed speak so frankly, Winry reverted to slightly pissed off. "If I'm so strong, what makes you think I'm unable to be with you?"

Ed's words flowed faster than his mind let him process them. "I want you to be with me. You said you feel incomplete; well, so do I. I have since I left. I thought it was Mom, and Al, and me. But it's you, you and everything else. I can't take out one and be whole. I need them all. I need you, Winry."

Winry choked on her next words and started crying into Ed's hair. Ed turned her around and hugged her as tightly as she'd done to him. Under the steady stream of the cold water, neither had felt as warm, as complete as they did right then. Then Winry stopped sobbing and whispered into Ed's ear, "I saw what was in the pocket watch, Ed." Ed stiffened and stood up straight, pulling away, incomplete once again.

A.N. – This was a one-shot, so no sequel. Sorry. A bit sappy for my normal fare. There will be more FMA fics from me, so look forward to them, please. Ja ne.


End file.
